KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — Inspector-General of police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun today said Bukit Aman and the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will be jointly investigating the bot attacks on both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan leaders.
Mohamad Fuzi said police believe the attack was an attempt by irresponsible parties to create unrest and hamper the flow of the voting process in the country.
“Following the bot attack which caused interruption to communication lines of government leaders and political party leaders as well as certain agencies, police will carry out a detailed investigation, with cooperation from the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission.
“The bot attack is an attempt by irresponsible quarters to provoke unrest and affect the smooth flow of the voting process,” he said in a statement.
Earlier today, BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak ordered immediate action to be taken by authorities to prevent further “cyberattacks” on Malaysian citizens and organisations following a massive spam on Polling Day.
“I condemn the ‘Spam Calls’ received by many BN leaders from overseas numbers. Phones that have been ‘spammed’ cannot function as usual.
“Apart from that, many BN websites cannot be accessed. I have ordered immediate action to be taken,” he posted on his Twitter account.
Najib had retweeted an earlier post from his cousin and Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who was among the party’s senior members that had been deluged with phone calls from unknown numbers.
“Just finished voting and realised all these missed calls from unknown numbers. Strange,” tweeted the incumbent Sembrong MP who is defending his parliamentary seat this election.
Other BN leaders who were spammed with the mystery calls were Sabah BN leaders Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak and Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
Leaders from the Pakatan Harapan pact also complained of having their phones jammed with these anonymous calls.
Among them were DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng who claimed it was an attempt to sabotage the general election.
PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali also received the spam calls.
According to a report in news portal Malaysiakini, the incumbent Gombak MP claimed his mobile phone, emails and Facebook account were hacked before 6am today.
The politicians were not the only ones affected. Chief Minister to the Government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa said he had been spammed 488 times since 7am and branded it as a “cyberattack” by irresponsible parties to disrupt #PRU14”.
Malaysian organisations including human rights group Suaram, electoral reforms group Bersih 2.0, DAP mouthpiece Roketkini and PKR-linked research outfit Invoke Malaysia are said to be down.
